The invention relates to a component assembly for establishing a connection between a shelving upright provided with slots, and a cross member provided with hooks for insertion into said slots and with wedge members which tightly fasten these parts to one another.
In a known design, loose hooks or hooks separate from the cross member that is to be joined to the upright are provided with a projection in which a slot slanting towards the upright is provided, into which slot a pin affixed to the cross member can be inserted thereby clamping the cross member against the upright. Aside from the fact that this design requires several loose parts, thereby complicating assembly and disassembly, it has been found especially that, after repeated assembly and disassembly of the parts, which frequently occurs when such connecting means are used in fair exhibits or the like, a tight joining of the parts is no longer assured; this is to be attributed to the fact that the tightening forces are exerted through a point contact between the parts so that, after repeated joining, play can develop which can cause the connection to be loosened by vibration.
The object of the invention is to find a solution which will permit not only an easy and rapid assembly and disassembly, but will also assure an equally tight connection after frequently repeated assembly and disassembly.
In a component assembly of the initially described kind, this problem is solved in accordance with the invention in that the hooks in the cross member are held in a longitudinally displaceable manner and can be drawn into the cross member so as to tighten same against the upright by means of a wedge held on the cross member. This construction affords a simple system of assembly, because all of the necessary connecting parts are held on the cross member, and the wedge that serves for tightening assures a tight connection even after frequent assembly and disassembly.
A very simple and advantageous construction is achieved if the hooks are combined with a pocket extending within the cross member and accommodating a wedge which can be driven substantially perpendicularly to the cross member, downwardly into the latter, and cooperates with corresponding ramp surfaces on the cross member and on the pocket.
The wedge can be provided with a slot through which a pin affixed to the pocket passes, so as to prevent the loss of the wedge.
Furthermore, the wedge may be provided at its wider end with an opening which will extend partially above the edge of the cross member after the connection has been tightened. To loosen the wedge, a tapered tool can then be driven into this opening thereby lifting the wedge out of wedging engagement with the cross member, or extracting the wedge from the cross member.
In order further to facilitate assembly when the connections are difficult to reach, it is recommendable to use an auxiliary wedge which can be inserted between the pocket associated with the hooks and the end of the slot provided in the cross member for the guidance of the wedge, for the purpose of extending the hooks from the end of the cross member and holding them in their fully extended position such that the cross member can be manipulated with one hand to insert the hooks into the correct slots in the upright without having to use the other hand to hold the hooks in their outwardly extended position.
It is desirable in this case to allow the auxiliary wedge inserted through a lower guiding slot in the cross member to extend through the cross member and project slightly above an upper guiding slot in the cross member. After the hooks have been inserted into the slots in the upright, it will be necessary only to knock the auxiliary wedge out with a light blow from a hammer or the like, and then, with another hammer stroke in the same direction, the main wedge, which is substantially parallel to the auxiliary wedge, can be driven in tightly.